Grass collectors which are pulled behind riding mowers and lawn and garden tractors are becoming increasingly popular. Hereinafter only tractors will be referred to but it should be understood that the term includes riding mowers as well as both lawn and garden tractors.
One type of grass collector is a single or dual grass bagger which is supported on a frame behind the tractor, the bagger frame is sometimes supported above the surface of the ground by a plurality of wheels. A grass chute extending from the mower housing is interconnected to the bagger so as to provide a path for the flow of grass clippings from the mower to the bagger. With some tractors having a two-or three-blade mower deck, an auxiliary engine driven blower or a mower belt or shaft driven blower is required in order to provide sufficient force to transport the grass clippings into the bagger.
Smaller tractors having one- or two-blade mower decks often utilize "high lift" blades so that sufficient force is provided by the design of the blade itself and an auxiliary blower is not required. However, many of the grass collectors which rely on high lift blades have metal, plastic or cloth sides which do not allow air to move freely through the grass collector. As a result, there is pressure build-up within the grass collector which prevents the free flow of air needed to transport the grass into the bagger, so that a ventilation screen must often be provided.
Currently available vacuum grass collectors which have an auxiliary engine are rather expensive. If a cart is provided in conjunction with the grass collector, the collectors typically mounted on a cart having a non-rigid hitch which is difficult to backup and which is easily tipped on hills when full. Another problem is that conventional grass collectors and baggers are often too tall to allow mowing in the proximity of low tree branches.
In addition, many grass collectors require a rather complicated mounting hitch arrangement to enable attachment to the tractor.
Furthermore, many of the commercially available baggers are difficult to unload or have limited capacities. Those without separate bins can only be emptied by dumping the contents on the ground rather than into a garbage container or dumpster. Some utilize an auxiliary engine-driven blower which empties into a large barrel which is difficult for an operator to lift and otherwise manipulate. Those with separate bins must use small bins to limit the bins' weight for emptying by the operator into a garbage container or dumpster. The limited size of the bins is inefficient because the operator must empty more bins even if the material in the bins is light enough to allow the operator to lift a larger bin.
Another problem with some commercially available baggers and grass collectors is that the standard grass collector cover assemblies are constructed so as to allow dust and debris from the exhaust of the grass chute to blow forward, thereby irritating the tractor operator.
As previously issued, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,699,393 and 4,787,197 show grass collecting devices which solve some, but not all, of the above problems associated with grass collectors.
The present invention solves these and many other problems associated with currently available grass collectors.